By JPOSTLEO GIOSUÈCOMobama suleiman 248.88(photo credit: AP)
US President Barack Obama said Monday a UN resolution that demands the disarmament of Hizbullah must be enforced.Speaking to reporters after a private Oval Office meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Obama said that while progress has been made toward enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the process is incomplete.Hizbullah has continued to defy the UN resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War and which demanded that the group disarm.Obama said he is particularly concerned about "the extensive arms that are smuggled into Lebanon that potentially serve as a threat to Israel."Hizbullah, which the United States lists as a terror group, has said it has thousands of rockets and missiles, some of which can reach deep into Israel.Obama said the United States and Lebanon may not always agree on issues involving Israel, but both nations share "a commitment to resolve these issues through dialogue and negotiations, as opposed to through violence."Suleiman urged the United States to provide Lebanon military support. Although the United States long has provided military aid to Lebanon, it has not handed over sophisticated arms for fear they could end up in the hands of Hizbullah.Besides its military wing, Hizbullah participates in Lebanese politics, and its representatives have been elected to the Lebanese parliament.
